It’s a Damn Shame the Awards Season Seems to Be Ignoring Far Cry 3

We can shrug off Spike TV, IGN, and various other media outlets for ignoring Far Cry 3 in their “Game of the Year” awards, since the ballots were probably cast before the game ever hit store shelves. I mean, such a practice would only make sense when you announce your winners before 2012 is even over. That’s not to say the game was completely ignored. GameSpot had it officially nominated and it won GOTY nods at EGM and Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Still, the game being billed as one of the best shooters this generation was coming away as a loser in awards season. But when Joystiq ran through their Top 10 of 2012 list, plus the “best of the rest,” and left Far Cry 3 off the list without even a mention, I honestly completely lost it.

Let’s listen to some of the praise Far Cry 3 has received this year, shall we?

“The open-ended, unstated and emergent elements of Far Cry 3 make it a unique shooter among this year’s campaigns, while formalized character and equipment progression provide a directed thrust to your exotic antics. It has excellent, explicit design layered on top of system-based chaos – which is a fancy way of saying that just about everything in Far Cry 3 feels like a reward.” – Joystiq.

“This is an island adventure all shooter fans should experience.” – Game Informer.

For the most part, these publications didn’t include Ubisoft’s open world shooter in the overall Game of the Year experience.

Look, we’ve learned more than ever that these awards are merely people’s opinions. Greater tragedies have been made. Just take a look at the 1989 Grammy Awards for that. But there’s bigger questions that need to be asked. When were the ballots cast? What games did the editors play? Why do we continue to give out awards before 2012 is even finished? Heck, nobody even saw Street Fighter X Mega Man coming when it was announced in the middle of December. Shouldn’t that at least garner some nominations for “biggest surprise?”

I guess in the end, I just have a hard time seeing how Boderlands 2, Halo 4, and others are better than Far Cry 3. Granted, that’s just like, my opinion, man. But in what other game can you jump off from a crate, stab someone in the face with your knife, sprint past incoming gun fire, slide as you shoot an explosive barrel to take out more enemies, and then grapple with a mother fucking tiger in the span of sixty seconds?